Ancestor Communities

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Tested a year ago, just getting around to trying to understand all of this. Have been working on a family tree for many years, thought DNA testing would help. Trying to understand what it means to have 2 markers in Jewish III? Is this both parents? I have confirmation mother has Ashkenazi heritage, so that explains Jewish II. But apparently she has Jewish III also; as well as my father? Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks, Yvette

Thank you for your reply and clarification....I would like to ask one more thing. In looking around the forum I noticed a comment that Jewish II was "relatively rare". Would you please elaborate on this statement, if possible. I really appreciate it...so much of this info is rather intimidating for me. I'm new to ALL of this. Even after reading the explanation of the 4 types of markers I still lack a full understanding of what this means. With a more clear understanding it may help with my family research. I do appreciate it. Yvette

Historical events play an important part in the human story. Jewish II alleles (markers) are characteristic among the Ashkenazi (German) Jews. In mid-20th century, the German Holocaust was launched by the Nazis, and millions of people were killed, including 6 million Jews. Individuals and whole families were wiped out, shrinking the Jewish Ashkenazi population. Certainly, some survived, but the numbers remaining and rebuilding are still low.